Hospitals Consider Medical Homes' Costs, Benefits

When the patient-centered medical home care-delivery model arrived at the industry's doorstep a few years back, the concern by some was that the concept's potential for savings would come at the expense of medical specialists who would see fewer patients. But as data from pilot medical home projects are starting to show, the savings instead are coming out of the pockets of hospitals because fewer patients need inpatient care.

Consequently, hospitals are hopping on the medical home bandwagon to make sure the money leaving one of their pockets finds its way into another. Among their business strategies are converting their own hospital-owned practices into medical homes, acquiring practices already certified as medical homes and requiring practices being considered for purchase to convert. And if they can't build them or buy them, hospitals are connecting with medical homes through information technology.

One observer, however, says inpatient providers are merely trying to “me too” their way into the medical home picture—and it may be too late for them to do it gracefully.

"There are hospitals systems who are very interested in getting their primary-care physicians established as medical homes," said Clayton Harbeck, executive vice president for MedSynergies, a technology, revenue-management and management services consultancy. "But if the window is not closed, it's closing rapidly."